The Candles Born of Darkness
by Beowulf the Novelborn
Summary: They were the odd ones out, the outcasts. That's because they were born for the Light. There will always be opposition from within the darkest of shadows.When that time comes, and a spark is cast, their candles are lit and new lights are born. And such light has been seen by the Traveler.
1. Ch 1: Against His Code

Chapter 1: Against his Code

(Ishtar Sink, Venus)

"There's too many of them!" the guardian stated running from the Vex swarm.

"We can come back later when we've got the reinforcements, Kep", his ghost told him.

"Don't tell be twice!" he said using blink to jump up to the cliff side, "Call in the sparrow!" The ghost strained physically before a loud _BOOM_ resounded.

"The link!" the ghost stated, "They destroyed the ground link! We can't summon it!"

"Forget the sparrow then! It'll be nothing but scrap metal the next time we see it, if we ever do! Send in the ship!"

"Duck!" the ghost yelled as Benjamin Keplar slid under the swinging fist of a Minotaur. He jumped back to his feet and ran around a corner into an abandoned building.

"Whoa!" he yelped as he ran into a Goblin. Literally, they crashed into each other and both went down. Keplar jumped back to his feet with his hand cannon firing. The unarmed Goblin rolled back onto its shoulders and its waist spun around in a three-sixty as he skillfully got back onto its feet while dodging the shot at the same time.

"What the heck?" the guardian muttered to himself as he witnessed the grace that should not exist in a lowly Goblin, or any Vex for that matter. Then again, this didn't exactly look like your average Goblin. Its bronze colored plating was covered in black, streaking scorch marks, and had a large portion of its crest blown away. And this Goblin actually had shining metal plating over its midsection. Despite the fact that Vex minds were smart, they never bothered to guard the midsection of the foot soldiers, their greatest weak point. But this Goblin actually acknowledged its own weakness and fortified it!

It was possible that this Vex may have undergone countless battles and survived where its compatriots died, and learned from those experiences.

It clicked and whirred before struggling to say, " _Alert! Defensive action required!"_

Keplar had seen enough. He whipped out his knife and dove for the strange Vex. But the cyborg flipped onto its hands and used a void pulse to vault successfully over the Hunter. But something clattered to the floor. Keplar looked to see a spiky ball form on the ground in between himself and the Goblin.

"A Ghost!" Keplar's mechanical friend stated, "It's still in ember state!"

The Vex backed up a step in surprise as he appeared to hear Keplar's Ghost. The grounded ghost detected the one with Keplar and slowly began to twitch, in an attempt to reactivate.

"Kep! Grab that Ghost! Maybe it can tell us about this thing!" Keplar's Ghost ordered.

As soon as Keplar made his move, the Vex strained and warped over to the hibernating ghost and picked it up. Keplar pulled out his knife and stabbed the Goblin. But the Vex ducked down, making the blade take off another portion of the crest on its head. The Vex was holding the Ghost in both hands, protecting it. The Goblin grabbed the knife and stabbed it into the ground before leaping backwards to the corner of the room. It made no further act of aggression.

"Fascinating!" Keplar's Ghost appeared. The Vex spotted the Ghost and carefully held the inactive one up as if comparing the two.

The Vex looked to Keplar, " _Identify."_

A long pause followed before the Guardian questioned, "Excuse me?"

 _"Identify yourselves"_ , the Vex elaborated.

"Um...", Keplar said perplexed.

"Kep is a Guardian from Earth", his Ghost spoke up, eager to understand.

" _Guardian. State primary function."_

Keplar kept his hand on his gun in anticipation, "We...fight for the Traveler...to restore its Light. That Ghost in your hand is a fragment."

" _Traveler?"_ the Vex appeared to scan the two Ghosts. " _Conclusion:_ _Ghosts and Guardians possess light. Affirmative?"_

Keplar felt a little awkward in this situation and simply nodded nervously.

" _Light equals...life...and.."_ The strange thing looked at the living Ghost, to the sleeping one, and finally at itself. "... _no light."_

All of a sudden that Vex stood up straight, fired a void pulse to blow a hole in the wall behind it, and tossed Keplar the sleeping ghost.

" _Revive little light. Go. Sekrion approaches!"_ it commanded before it turned to the doorway on the far side of the room and warped through it to the lower valley.

"What was that about?" Keplar asked.

"I have a vague idea of what happened," the ghost thought out loud, "but we have to get out of here now!Sekrion is the Vex mind that controls all expansion through Vennus' crust! We're not ready to face it yet!" But as he said this the wall on one of the buildings was blasted down to reveal a giant Vex Hydra.

"Perfect timing!" Keplar said before they were taken into the jump ship and made it into orbit in seconds.

The young human hunter quickly removed the suit as his pain inhibitors finally deactivated and he went to check his wounded left arm.

"You're lucky that your Titan friend developed those nano machines or we'd both be dead now", his ghost, Drifter, scanned the wound.

"Diego didn't do all the work", Keplar looked out the window a the orbital view of the Ishtar Sink, "That little Goblin. He saved us from the mind!"

"Don't get too excited, Kep. What we just witnessed was a one in a billion event. We have to get back to the Speaker."

.

The Guardians barely understood the workings of the Vex. It is true that all Vex are tied to one mind, they are not controlled by them directly. In having biological minds, the Vex can act on their own. Their relation to a Mind is something more of a telepathic monitoring system, through which Minds give orders to all foot soldiers. They in turn, follow by their own free will after years of mental conditioning.

But not even the Minds were perfect.

The Minds are capable of monitoring thousands, even a million units of foot soldiers. What the Minds kept secret was the fact that they can only monitor a few hundred thousand at once. Even then, the Minds have no access to a soldier's memory unless the soldier willingly shares it, and they always do. But a Mind could focus its mental power, and only then can it assume direct control over a hundred units. It was a fact that the Vex Minds kept secret, even from the foot soldiers.

All but one.

Glitch, as he called himself, knew this weak point, and even knew how to tell when his Mind, Sekrion, was trying to link with him. He had seen many fights and seen many of his own comrades perish. But he never let their deaths be in vain. He had discovered that the Minds rarely changed their battle plans, and that every single casualty had been caused in that line of order. So secretly he began to develop without the aid of the Minds. He learned from their mistakes and saw opportunities for improvement that the Minds never did.

But he also learned over the years that the Vex themselves never changed, despite having so many fixable flaws. It gave Glitch the sense that the Minds were holding back. Either that or they were too convinced that they were already a race of perfection.

It was then that Glitch began to put what he'd learned to new use. He began to experiment with pieces of his fallen compatriots to develop new upgrades. He developed a new endoskeleton to allow unrestricted movement. He improved his armor to the point where his power core was perfectly protected. The list went on. He made certain to do this whenever Sekrion wasn't monitoring.

He had developed the idea that he could become something more than what he was intentionally built for. He believed that not rising to one's fullest potential was simply a waste of precious life.

Then one day, a Guardian entered the area unprepared to face the Vex. He escaped, but he left behind an unusual spiky ball which had been damaged in the fight.

In all his life, the veteran Vex had never come across something like this. For once he was in a state of utter confusion. This spiky ball (what Keplar claimed to be a Ghost) emitted tiny amounts of an unknown energy.

Glitch puzzled over this for months on end. Every now and then the Ghost would stir with brief life and Glitch would monitor the sudden spikes in energy until the Ghost fully returned to ember state. He detected a life like his own, only this one was unprotected. Knowing his Mind, the rest of the Hezen Corrective would likely destroy this "inferior being" in an instant.

So Glitch carried his little light in a compartment in his new armor twenty-four seven to protect it.

Then along came Keplar. Glitch had never encountered a guardian up close before and he was surprised to find a life form that was actually not a machine, like the Fallen he fought on an almost daily basis. And this intelligent being communicated in a manner that was so complex, yet so casual. It was as though it was a higher level of language. Granted he had already learned the basics of guardian "code", but never on such a level as this.

But perhaps the most confusing part of all was the energy that he and his living Ghost carried. Glitch had never seen so much at once, and it was the same kind of power that was being emitted from his Little Light.

Light.

That's what it was all this time. The guardians and their Ghosts radiated this power. And he had determined, based on his studies, that Light was a form of sentience.

More than that, it was a level that the Vex didn't have. Heck, the Vex were trying to destroy this power! This drove the poor Goblin to his mental limits before he discovered it. But it all made sense now. The Vex ways weren't made for the Light, and the Minds knew it. If they couldn't get it themselves, they'd destroy it instead.

This stood against everything that Glitch had worked for.

But of course, his ways were different from the Minds. If a Ghost could possess Light, perhaps an open minded Vex could. Perhaps that was what made him different. He was unknowingly born for Light.

He had to run. But the only problem was that no foot soldier can simply escape the Mind they're tied to.

He growled mechanically before pounding his fist on the wall. A light flicker caught his attention. Just outside of the window, he spied a tree branch. A little silk sac was hanging from it. Not long ago, he had discovered a tiny race of insects (caterpillars as he would later learn). A few weeks before, he had seen the strange creature just hang from the branch and sew itself into a sac. He assumed that it was dead.

But right then, he watched the little sac move, twitch and crack before a creature with colorful wings shook itself dry and flew away with what he saw as untold grace.

The caterpillar never died. It simply shed its mortal coil that bound it to the tree it grew in. It swapped it for a new body that could fly to new horizons. Now he looked to himself.

Now he knew what he had to do.

(End of Chapter 1)

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GREETINGS EARTHLINGS! Beowulf the resident Novhakiin Novelborn is back with a brand new story!

I actually just finished the story mode for Destiny and so many ideas popped into my head. So I figured that i should write a fanfic for good measure. Lucky me, there are only 326 (now 327) Destiny fanfics on the site at the moment I posted this. Compared to my other stories' topics, this is nothing!

Seriously! I am shocked that there aren't more! I'm just glad that i'm not going to get bumped to the back of the list overnight by new updates or publications.

Anyway, I'm doing my research. So if i do wind up writing something that completely goes against the way that the Destiny universe runs, give me a heads up.

If you like what you see, favorite, follow, and review. Only if you want to of course.

Until next time, this is Beowulf and the OC Crew signing out!


	2. Ch 2: Cursed

CBD Ch 2: Cursed

(Selection Pits, Earth's Moon)

The nobles gathered in the arena, three large knights lead by a High Wizard, Zylia. The three knights before her were Dakoor, Garok, and Merok. Three of the four Swarm Princes.

"You summoned us?" Dakoor bowed, always the more respectful of his brothers.

"Omnigul requires that you be present to observe the growth of our Ogres. She also said that now may be an opportune time to select your chosen ones", she rasped in their native tongue.

"Our forces have more than enough to deal with any Fallen or pesky guardians", Garok stated calmly, "Place them somewhere where they might be needed. Any more thralls and they'll turn on each other."

"Such will only be the case if you cannot control them, brother", Dakoor corrected, "You must understand that the guardians still have their Traveler, no matter how weak it may be. Every hand in our forces counts."

"It would be best if you took this more seriously," Zylia stated, "You want to impress your king when he arises."

"Crota?" Garok asked, "Why were we not told-"

 _BOOM!_

The Prince was interrupted by his brother, Merok, who subtly slammed the base of his staff on the ground. The final prince was the most reserved. But all knew he could be even more vicious than an ogre-sized thrall. Merok silently nodded to the arenas and followed the wizard.

Garok growled to himself and followed his brothers.

"I can assure you that these Ogres have been well conditioned by my sisters. I hope you will consider."

The gates of the many arenas opened as several thralls were released into each. Behind more gates were the Ogres, one per arena. They banged on the barred gates until they were opened. Numerous roars sounded as the enraged giants stormed the fields.

"I almost feel sorry for those creatures", Dakoor watched on.

The thralls looked surprised at first, but one by one they screamed before charging en mass. The ogre slammed its fist into the ground, cracked it, and then sent an eye blast in a line in front of it. This beam tore through the ground and lengthened the crack, vaporizing any thralls in the way and hitting others away with shrapnel. The other ogres did the same in their pins.

"I wouldn't call that conditioning", Dakoor narrowed his eyes "You've trained them."

"You could call it that", the wizard said.

"I call it mindless brawling, what ogres were designed for", Garok scoffed, "Nothing has changed."

Something caught the eyes of Merok. He began to walk around to the far side of the arena. Suddenly interested, the brothers followed.

Merok was staring down into a pin where the ogre was tossing around the thralls like ragdolls.

"What is this? It's not killing any of them?" Garok questioned.

"This one has a peculiar trait that we've never seen before", the wizard explained, "This one actually has picked up on our methods to make it stronger. It appears that he's using the same mentality on the thralls he fights. He toys with them and tortures them, but only kills them if they prove to be weak."

"And?" Dakoor asked.

"The unbelievable happens. Those that survive his torture have become stronger and more vicious than anything we've ever seen. Whatever he's doing appears to be working. He's not nearly as mindless as the thralls, as you said, Garok."

 _Mindless?_

The gate opened once more and the Ogre roared to the thralls who ran for cover without hesitation.

The Ogre turned back to its gate, but stopped as something caught his eye. On the far side of the arena was a single thrall. It was curled up, sitting against the wall. This one almost seemed to dust itself off.

Most thralls had rotting flesh, sometimes to the point where bones were visible. But this one actually appeared to bandage its wounds.

"Looks like we have a weak link", Dakoor said.

The Orge roared at the thrall in a rage. The thrall looked up slightly but gave no reply, not even a click.

"Translation?" Garok said.

"He's demanding that the thrall returns to its cage", Zylia rasped in confusion, "That Thrall goes to that same spot every time, but it's never _stayed_ after."

"Mindless all the same", Garok stated.

The ogre stomped forward. Its eye glowed slightly as a rumble held in its throat. Suddenly, the thrall snarled. The Ogre stood still for a moment in surprise, then it roared in a way that scared the other ogres on the far side of the chamber. In a rage, it tore a piece out of the wall and hurled it forward.

 _BOOM!_

The boulder shattered on impact and a cloud of dust was kicked up.

"Anticlimactic", Garok chuckled. Merok on the other hand pointed to the spot where the thrall was. Now that the dust and debris cleared, everyone could now see that a _hole_ had been tunneled into the wall!

"What have we here?" Dakoor said with new interest.

The ogre fixed its stance and looked around rapidly, but the thrall was nowhere to be found.

Another hole burst open in the wall behind the ogre and the thrall sped out on all fours, faster than anything the wizard had ever seen.

"It's challenging him!" she muttered.

The thrall leapt into the air and reached into its bandages. He whipped out a pair of bleached knives and threw them into the ogre's shoulder. The monster whirled around and tried to swat the attacker into a wall, but the assailant had already burst through the wall and into _another_ tunnel!

"By Oryx! It's fast! Above and below ground", Garok breathed.

"I don't think its digging that fast", Zylia said as she realized what was going on, "I never would have expected it, but I think all the time it's been at that corner and when no one was looking, it's been digging. It could be anywhere!"

The Ogre looked around, almost in panic. Then the thrall appeared at his feet in a hole. The giant roared and slammed its fist into the ground as the thrall vanished again.

The trap was set.

The ground at its feet crumbled and the ogre lost its balance. The thrall burst out of the ruble with a horrifying scream as it tore into the ogre. For almost thirty seconds, it clawed away as the ogre hopelessly tried to get it off.

Then, the thrall grabbed its knives and back flipped off of the staggering giant. The ogre crawled out of the pit as it looked back to the thrall. The giant was bleeding profusely, but not mortally. Zylia was horrified and barked orders to the other wizards, who led the ogre out of the arena.

"How is that possible?!" Garok growled, "It hardly even has a darkness reading! It doesn't even behave like a thrall! That mindless creature isn't even Hive!"

 _MINDLESS?!_

The thrall whirled around to the prince, and leaped over the walls!

"Garok! Look out!" Dakoor shouted as the screaming thrall landed a flying roundhouse to Garok's head, before back flipping and throwing its knives!

Garok was now ten feet back and on the ground as the thrall attacked him again.

But suddenly it was pinned to the ground under Merok's foot! The thrall screamed in pain as it came into contact with the darkness of the final prince.

"If you were wise, you would see that this thing is not mindless", Merok said, "It planned that fight for weeks. But it wasn't because it wanted to rise in the ranks. That vicious attack wasn't uncontrolled, it was rage, hatred, anger directed at its target and you for a purpose. It wanted revenge and was willing to attack its own kind to get it."

Dakoor walked over and pulled the knives from Garok's armor.

"These things are made bone armor fragments! It crafted them on its own!" he said examining the sharpened bleached blades, "We have to set it in the field!"

"No!" Merok barked, "While its skills would be a priceless asset in battle, I find it has no drive to fight, let alone kill, unless it is attacked first. A guardian would kill it before it could make up its own mind. However…." Merok brought his staff to the floor as he and his brothers were transported to a large circular chamber. "….I have a way to control him", he finished, holding the weakened thrall by the neck.

"The Chamber of Night?" Garok said as he repaired his armor, "Why are we here?"

"This", Merok motioned to the large white shard in the middle of the room, surrounded by the siphon witches, "is why."

"Your Grace", one of the witches nodded to him without breaking her ritual, "Shall we prepare a transfusion?"

"This one's special", Merok replied, "I need a remote activation."

The shard flashed a bright glow and Dakoor, shielded his eyes, "Light? That's….a shard of the Traveler!"

Merok nodded, "Light is a form of energy, as Darkness is. It cannot be destroyed, only absorbed, diverted, or contained. Every Guardian we've killed, every Ghost we've drained needs their Light removed. Else the risk arises of them being revived. Of course we can only contain so much of this energy in spaces that will prevent exposure. We gather so much that we can no longer hold it at times."

Merok forced the thrall to the platform as chains of Darkness pinned its limbs down.

"Are you aware of how we create cursed thralls?" Merok asked.

"No", Garok huffed, "The technique has been kept secret, even from us."

"Not to me", Merok said, then he chuckled lightly, "I find it ironic how not everything in our arsenal is based on Darkness. Centuries ago, before Oryx vanished, we found a solution to our….hazardous waste disposal. We learned to use the Light against the Traveler through the Thralls that we would normally see as inferior. We would normally kill these weaklings. But we learned that the only way to make them stronger, even if for a single battle, we had to place an insurmountable burden on their shoulders."

He nodded to the witches who made the chains connect to the shard of the light giver.

"It was Crota himself who discovered this", he continued.

"That's impossible!" Garok stepped forward, "Why would our king go as low as to use the Light?!"

There was a long silence before Merok smiled.

"Crota didn't just want the Traveler to die. He wanted it to feel true pain. He wanted the Traveler and all who followed to have a sense of hopelessness, despair. He wanted to show that not only can we remove the Light that they so value, but we can use it to destroy them! We will show that no matter what they do, every light will always cast a shadow."

"So we throw the Traveler's power back through Cursed Thralls", Dakoor nodded in agreement.

"Precisely. But these thralls live the rest of their lives with the burden of the Light's containment. That is why they are called 'Cursed' Thralls."

The chains glowed as Light coursed through them and the thrall growled as the body absorbed the Light.

"Impressive", Merok muttered, "Thralls typically scream from the agony they undergo. I can only assume that he has a strong will to live."

"But why are we…. 'cursing' this one if he's such a valuable asset?" Garok asked.

"You see….." Merok continued, but was cut off as the shard glowed with new light. The chains were now not only glowing, they were burning! The thrall yelped for a moment, but endured the treatment. Then finally, the chains couldn't contain the current, and snapped.

"What was that?" Merok asked the witches.

"It appears that we hit a dense concentration of Light. The subject received an immense dose of Light, probably six times the desired amount at the bare minimum."

The thrall staggered before it stood up. Its skull plate glowed with an eerie blue light, and its arm and leg plating soon took on the same glow. The glowing plates began to flicker with what looked like small flames.

"And yet he's still standing", Merok said as the Thrall screamed and attempted to charge the knight, "For now."

Merok then took the bone knife and carefully scratched the handle against the blade of the sword at his hip. The thrall instantly crumpled to the ground as the Light it contained was slowly being used to stun it. Merok then rubbed his thumb over the scratch as the blade was fixed the Thrall stopped trembling.

"What…was that?" Dakoor asked.

"A Lifeline trigger. To answer your first question, I am sparing this thrall, but I'm putting it on a leash. If it should try to attack me, or if it refuses to fight, I can damage the blade to give it a shock. If his overall behavior is against my wishes then I will simply snap the knife in half and cause his Light to be released. If our knowledge of Earth is correct, I believe the humans called such a device…..a voodoo doll."

The thrall stood back up but Merok commanded the beast to kneel.

"In effect, it will learn to hate the Light that courses through it. With the right conditioning, this beast may feel threatened enough by the Light of a Guardian to attack without provocation."

 _Beast? Leash?! I am more! Must be free!_

The thrall's claws sharpened and a growl rumbled in his throat and he drew his hand back.

" _You're right."_

That voice calmed the thrall suddenly. He looked around, but there was no way that voice was that of the witches, knights, or any Hive for that matter.

So who could it be?

 _Who is it?_

" _You are right. You are more than they say. Yes, I hear your thoughts, and you mine. You wish to be seen as more. Don't you?"_

The thrall looked to the others in the room. As the voice said, none of the others appeared to hear it. This voice spoke to him patiently, and with a tone of understanding.

 _Yes._

" _I haven't much time to explain. But for now, you must bow to Merok."_

The thrall hesitated, but bowed to the Eir Prince in the most respectful way he could.

"Very good", Merok muttered as he motioned for the thrall to rise, "I choose him to be by my side. He…. is my rook."

"Are you sure about this?" Dakoor asked his brother.

"I am certain. If his will to live is this strong, even while under the strain of so much Light, he is worthy. You," Merok pointed the top of his staff to the thrall, "are dismissed for now. I will summon you again when the time is right." The Knight tapped his staff as he and his brothers returned to the Selection pits. The witches went back into their trance, and their focus resided nowhere else.

 _Who are you?_

" _The one who can make things right for you, little one. I have played a risky move, and have placed a heavy investment in you."_

 _I have been cursed. What could I possibly do?_

The glow brightened a little, and the Thrall's form was filled with a feeling of warmth. The bandages fell away, and the thrall could see that his wounds were healing.

" _I offer you something that not even Oryx himself could offer you. But now, I need you as much as you need me."_

 _Why me?_

" _Because you are one of the few. You are my chosen. Your name is Tirak."_

(End of Chapter 2)

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Greatings earthlings! Beowulf here with another chapter added to this story's orbit!

Now, I'm certain that many of you have a lot to say. When you think about it, why would a thrall be considered "cursed" unless it was forced to bear the power that the Hive considered unholy? I haven't seen anything that describes the methods by which these suicide bombers are made, so I find that using this explanation not only helps my story, but possibly fills in a crucial piece of Destiny's backstory!

Also, I'll be putting something of a spin on the Chamber of Night storyline. I believe that you may have picked up where I'm going with this.

You all know the drill. If you like what you see, follow, favorite and review if you want. I would love to hear your feedback.

This is Beowulf and the OC Crew signing out!


	3. Ch 3: The Lone Wolf

Chapter 3: The Lone Wolf

(Ishtar Sink, Venus)

Glitch had been busy.

Over the next few hours, he had gathered up the parts he would need. The machine itself wasn't in bad shape, and would certainly provide flawless mobility. It would also be his ticket for finding this "Traveler", supposedly the source of all Light.

The Goblin then began to remove parts of the machine that would no longer be needed. Then whatever he didn't leave alone, he modified using parts of deceased Vex, everything from Harpies to Minotaurs.

When the frame was finished, he stepped back to marvel at it.

 _Construction complete. This should provide a suitable frame. I must begin transfer._

He had run through the process of transferring physical mind cores before (his own mind, not a commanding Vex Mind, mind you). He had programmed something of an assembly device which could safely remove his core to that of his new body.

Once this was done, he would no longer be bound by Sekrion. He would be free.

The goblin started up the device and relaxed as the machine began to remove his core. But it suddenly stopped as an alert appeared on his HUD. Simplified into higher level (verbal) language, it sounded something like this:

 **Warning: separation from commanding Mind will permanently sever access to 4** **th** **and 5** **th** **dimensional crossing! Recommending a different course of action.**

Glitch was hoping he wouldn't have to hear that.

You see, Vex were also unique because they were not bound by the 4th and 5th dimensions, meaning that they can teleport not just through space, but through time itself! Even the most humble of foot soldiers had access to this phenomenal power. But Glitch never accounted for the fact that this power was only possible through his connection to Sekrion himself. In changing bodies, he would be bound to the forwards progression of time from that moment.

He would cease to be a Vex.

He hesitated. But he thought back on that caterpillar he saw. It wasn't a caterpillar anymore when it came out.

Then he thought back on his first assumption. The Vex weren't made for the Light. Sadly, that included himself. If he wanted the Light, he must cease to be a Vex.

The link spiked in strength and Glitch was filled with a sense of dread. He had felt this hundreds, maybe thousands of times before. But not once was the felling this strong and…dark.

"Sekrion…." He muttered as the Mind began to load all of its mind power into controlling this one Vex.

But it was too late.

*Click*

 _ **OVERRIDE FAILED! NO LONGER CONNECTED!**_

 _It is done._

The goblin was shocked to hear his own thoughts. For years, his brain was bound by the confines of computer language and programming shared by every Vex in the system.

Now he found himself _thinking_ in a way that he once saw as "guardian code". He no longer saw it as a code. It was his voice now, his language.

Now he understood. He finally understood the guardians' very design! They were not links in a network with this "Traveler", not like the Vex. They were individuals bound by the rules that they chose.

And now, so was Glitch.

"Only one thing left to do."

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(Tower, Last City, Earth)

"I see", Amanda Holliday said as she thought, "I'll have Shaw go fix it up."

"Thanks", Kep sighed, "So how much for the new Sparrow?"

"Don't you jump to conclusions", she raised an eyebrow, "Vex may be many things, but scavenging is more of a Fallen aspect. With luck, you can get yours back before anything gets it first. I'll send the details to Drifter."

Kep said goodbye and made his way to the North Tower. He had to talk to the Speaker.

But someone had already beat him to the punch. Two guardians were confronting the Speaker with another dead Ghost.

The warlock was dressed in a violet robe with a holographic bond on his left arm. He was an Exo. His frame was black with a pair of fins where his ears should have been, and he had a radiation green splash mark over his left eye. His name was Ison-3.

The Titan on the right was wearing full Illyrian Type 0 armor with a Mark of the Six Fronts. He was a young awoken with a soft face, burning blue eyes and slicked back spikey black hair. His name was Diego Rust.

The two were members of Ben Kepler's Fireteam.

"Benjamin", the Speaker stopped to greet the hunter, "I am happy to see that you're alright."

"The rookie lives!" Ison fist bumped the hunter, "How was your first go with the Vex?"

"I lost my Sparrow", Kep sighed, "But I have something you might want to see, Mr. Speaker."

Drifter pulled the sleeping Ghost from the transmat, "And one unbelievable story."

"Let me see! Quickly!" the Speaker took the Ghost and placed it on the workbench, "How did you find one in ember state?" Kep proceeded to tell his story.

"I don't believe it. I've already run my scan of the Ishtar Collective, and I've never seen anything of the sort!" Ison retorted.

"He speaks the truth", all turned to the Ghost which was merely sleeping a moment ago.

"Thank the Traveler", the Speaker sighed, "What is your name, little one?"

"Signus."

"The Wandering Ghost?" Ison clarified, "You haven't been seen in decades!"

"I've been trapped on Venus for some time. My memory is fuzzy, but this Goblin saved me from the Hezen Corrective. He's a Glitch, a bug in the system that I've only rarely seen in higher soldiers, but never a Goblin."

"I told you", Drifter said to Kep, "One in a billion."

"Oh dear", Signus saw the dead Ghost in the hands of Diego's hands, "Was he yours?"

Diego simply shook his head. The gentle giant was a man of few words.

"Diego and I found him yesterday inside of the Temple of Crota. He was there for some time", Ison clarified.

"May I?" Signus turned to the Speaker who nodded. Signus began to scan the dead Ghost, but suddenly reeled back in surprise as a bright light briefly shined from inside of the Ghost.

"It couldn't be…" Signus continued to scan the Ghost, "There's a dense patch of Light hidden deep inside of this Ghost. It preserved a message of some sort. Let's see…. It says and I quote, 'Descend to find Crota's blade…two prisoners…in the Chamber of Night, the blessed candle and I.' Now there's a…Oh no. He did not do what I think he did!" Signus trembled as he turned away from the Ghost.

"What does this mean?" the Speaker asked.

"The Hive are in possession of one of the Traveler's fragments and are draining him as we speak!"

"But who is the Blessed Candle?" Ison questioned.

"I don't know. But the Blade is obviously the Sword of Crota", Signus explained.

"Master Rahool was asking for someone to destroy the sword!" Kep realized.

Drifter suddenly materialized again, "Kep, something you might want to hear. The ground link in the Ishtar Sink has been repaired, but none of our forces are down there!"

"I get it now", the Speaker looked to the Traveler in the distance "He _is_ playing a desperate move."

"What should we do?" Diego asked quietly.

The Speaker turned to them, "Benjamin, you must go to the Ishtar Sink and learn what you can. Ison, you will go to the Reef and seek the Awoken, per your plan. And Diego, your power will make you strong enough to pierce the swarms of the Hive. You must find the Sword and free the Shard and the Blessed Candle. Go now. The Traveler and the City are counting on you."

The Fireteam departed without hesitation and the Speaker turned back to the Traveler in the far distance.

After a silence, the Speaker muttered this:

'The Enlightened one longs for the Light.

The Blessed one from bones shall rise.

The Just must die to earn his place.

The Free will reach for peaceful skies.'

"Is our situation so grave that you must resort to this?" he said in a calm but distraught tone, "The very forces that sought to destroy you are to fulfil this prophecy?"

The hologram in the middle of the tower twisted about. A simple answer.

The Speaker sighed, "I personally do not like this. But I trust you completely. You're much wiser than I'll ever know. If it is your will that this comes to pass, then I can only hope that all goes according to plan."

But he failed to notice something as he talked.

Where was Signus?

.

(Vestian Outpost, the Reef)

"Move it!" the vandal prodded the young dreg through the halls and into the Queen's throne room. But the queen shot the vandals a menacing glance and they backed into the shadows. Mara had a guest in her halls.

"Why do you need a Vex head?"

"Oh, we don't. But it's your only way to get into the Black Garden."

"Then we'll be back in time."

"Or die on Venus. Either way", the Queen's brother smirked at the strange figure in front of them, "Just don't wind up as scrap metal, frame."

 _ZOOMP!_

A tiny ball of void energy blasted the knife out of the prince's hand and impaled it in the floor behind him.

"I am an exo. And my name is Ison. Do not ever compare me to a frame", the ticked off warlock strode out of the room.

Khaden, the dreg, watched in awe as the stranger walked away from smack talking the prince. His flying robot friend stopped and eyed the dreg with interest before joining up with his master.

"That was rather rude of you to interrupt us", the queen glared at the Fallen guests as they prodded the dreg forward before kicking him to the ground.

"Forgive us, milady", they bowed, "We have received orders to bring this one before you. He has been accused of stealing ether rations and swiping amethyst from our top miners." To prove his point he pulled a large chunk of the gem from the dreg's satchel.

The queen motioned for them to bring the gem forward and they did. Behind their masks, the vandals were grinning at the dreg's predicament. Surely the queen would have him locked in the Prison of Elders, or even thrown out the airlock.

"Humph. Pathetic."

The queen casually tossed the gem over the edge of the bridge and into the pit, to the shock of the vandals.

"I see signs that this dreg is a hard worker in the field. Your eyes fail to see the crystal dust still coating his armor, a sure sign that he's been working deep in the mines _alone_. And here you two are complaining over something as trivial as gemstones. Regardless of whether or not your superiors commanded it, if find no reason to convict him."

"But your highness…"

"There are no 'buts'," Mara raised her voice slightly, "Leave us at once."

The vandals quickly bowed before leaving. The dreg attempted to get up but stumbled, looking up to his queen.

"Well?" she asked calmly. His face paled behind his mask as he got back to his feet and left the queen's presence.

In all truth and honesty, Khaden hadn't done any of the things he was accused of. He was going to present that gem to the queen as a gift once he had carved it. It was the biggest gem found that entire month.

When the vandals and captains saw him with that gem they couldn't believe it. So out of their own greed they attempted to discredit him. It would be easy. The dregs were the omega, the bottom of the pack.

Then there was Khaden, who was literally at rock bottom, even amongst the other dregs.

Dregs were treated like dirt. To mark them, to humiliate them in their youth, the dregs for forced to have their own lower arms cut off. This led them to almost suicidal courage on the battlefield. They fought in the hopes of a better life. They desired the chance to become a vandal and grow their arms back again. It was meant to be a form of motivation.

But it had quite the opposite effect on young Khaden.

You see, in the ceremony at which his arms were removed, the one who took them off was Skolas himself, before he was sent to the Nine.

If a being of Skolas' rank brought the hammer down on a dreg, it was all over. Everyone recognized them as the last of the last, and none would ever rise to be a vandal. It was as simple as that. So unlike the others, Khaden had no will to fight. He hardly even had the strength because the ether rations he was given were smaller than that of any Fallen. They were basically starving him. It made him an easy target for the greedy ones like on that day.

'Khaden' in the Fallen tongue meant, 'the Just'. But he saw no justice in his life or in the House of Wolves.

But he worked with a different purpose.

In the early Reef Wars, the Wolves took a harsh defeat against the Awoken. Yet, Queen Mara had graciously spared the Fallen and even offered them a home amongst the Awoken.

Khaden was relieved to feel the queen's forgiveness. It was a grace that the House of Wolves had never given him.

It was then that he began to work harder in the hopes of gaining the favor of the Queen herself. If he couldn't take a place beside the Wolves, he could take his place in her service. And perhaps then, he could get his arms back. He would start by searching for a new gem.

He went back into the fitting room where he picked up his Ether rations and his jet pack. He also had a void power cutter and a shock pistol, fitted with a knife at the end of the barrel. He had designed this one himself.

He stepped out into the airlock and was jettisoned into the deep Reef.

What the outsiders didn't know was that the Reef actually a giant 'planet' of space junk held together by tractor beams as a chain of islands. As such, it even had its own atmosphere in patches. The rest of the asteroid belt was just a vacuum filled with rocks.

But Khaden was desperate. He had to go outside of that in his pressurized armor. No other Fallen came out here. So for once, he could mine in peace.

He had found a large passing asteroid with traces of amethyst and went straight to drilling.

 _A day will come where I can prove my loyalty to the Wolves and Mara._

Hours passed with little luck. He was several miles from the reef's boarders, beyond the patrol of the Paladins. There was no way that the gravity-well atmosphere patches stretched out this far, and that forced him to rely on air tanks and limited ether. The fallen required ether in the same urgent manner that they needed oxygen. He wouldn't have much time left.

His cutter dug into the hunk of space rock and a purple glow reflected the sun. His eyes glittered as he found a crystal the size of his shock pistol!

 _This is the one!_ He pulled it free and held it tight as he drifted. Finally, he had what he needed.

But his joy was short lived.

The asteroid around him rumbled and then exploded without warning, but not a sound was heard in the vacuum of space. The breath was suddenly being sucked out of Khaden's lungs. His air and ether supply system was damaged and now he was losing both rapidly to the void!

He shut off his tank, reached into his pack, and grabbed a pint sized air tank with an emergency ether ration, plugging both directly into his helmet. He finally regained his breath and sighed with relief that his gem was still in hand.

But his eyes widened as he looked up to see a large mass of blue painted metal drifting through the asteroids. A Ketch! The Fallen ship was firing at any asteroids that came too close.

Khaden fired up his jetpack and darted for the ship. It was a miracle that he slipped into the airlock behind that jump ship. Fresh air flowed into the chamber.

He was relieved to see that this Ketch belonged to the House of Wolves, so he would have no trouble.

The jump ship landed in the middle of the room as six vandals, seven dregs, and two captains stepped out of the ship. But they all cleared as an even larger form emerged. Khaden quickly hid as the hulking body of an Archon stepped forward from the ship.

"Raksos!" Khaden muttered, recognizing the giant. Said person heaved his giant shrapnel cannon onto his shoulder.

"Who dares to call me out from the reef!" he bellowed to the empty halls. For a moment, there was silence.

"Ah, Raksos the Reaper's Howl", a deep, booming voice said calmly. Two servitors floated in from the sides of the room, "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show."

"State your business!" Raksos pointed his weapon, "How do you hold a Wolf Ketch?!"

"On edge as always", the voice stated as ether hissed into the chamber, "You may remove your masks and put away your weapons. You stand in friendly grounds."

A vandal checked a meter on his HUD and nodded to the Archon. Starting with the biggest, they all removed their masks and sighed with relief to breathe the fresh air. Khaden too removed his mask, no longer having to worry about his shortening ether supplies, which were now extracting ether from the air.

"Please, follow me", the servitors spoke with that same voice. The Archon nodded and motioned for the others to follow. Khaden followed them at a distance.

"Tell me, Raksos. What is life like back in the Reef?" a servitor turned to him while they still walked.

"Not the same. It's just too peaceful. Too quiet. Without our Kell, the Wolves are nothing", he growled quietly.

"And yet you find shelter under the very people who exiled him."

"We have no choice. We either accept the terms or die drifting without our Kell."

"I'm afraid that will never quite be the same", the voice continued, "The Great Wolf Kell has long since passed. This…was his Ketch."

"I see", Raksos sighed, "But who are you?" they approached the Kell's chamber.

"I am the one who offers you all your redemption. The House of Wolves has indeed fallen to such a pitiful state." The doors opened to reveal a giant fallen sitting in the Kell's throne and he continued the voice, "That is why I intend to raise it up from the ashes of the Awoken."

Khaden's heart skipped a beat. It was him!

"Skolas!" Raksos gasped as all of the others bowed, "But your servitors….."

"I merely told you that the Kell of the House of Wolves was dead. That skiff has sailed long ago. That is why I stand before you as the Kell of Kells."

"Why do you summon us then?" Raksos questioned.

"I offer you a chance to revive our people not just as the House of Wolves, but the House of all Houses. This Fallen regime will rise once more, and if my plan runs right, it will never fall again!"

The Archon instantly took a knee with his hand over his heart, "It will be our honor, Sir! What must we do?"

"Very good. Contact the rest of the House in secret. We arrive at the Reef in exactly twelve hours. The Wolves are to turn on the Awoken at exactly that time. And when I tell you to do so, you will be the one to clear out her courtroom so we may kill the Queen herself."

Khaden ran back to the supply room in a panic. He couldn't let this happen! Queen Mara was the only one who could make things right for him. All of his efforts would be in vain if she died!

If he went on a straight course home, it would take him roughly eleven hours to reach the Reef. So he dove for supplies, grabbing a new life support system, and all of the ether sups he could get his hands on. The high concentrations of ether coursed through him and he felt stronger than he ever had before. It was enough to sustain him for at least a day.

He jumped into the airlock and jettisoned himself in a line that aimed for the Reef.

 _Skolas! I won't let you take my pride and hope away from me a second time!_

(End of Chapter 3)

.

Greetings, Earthlings! Beowulf here!

I've done hours of research on the Fallen for this specific chapter. And as disturbing as it may sound, Fallen Dregs actually have their lower arms docked in a ceremony of placement, and they only get them back once they prove themselves. Harsh! I almost feel sorry for those bastards that we all headshot every time we play.

Anyway, since Variks is already sided with the queen, it leaves no question that another loyal Fallen could exist.

And now there's a prophecy that tells of the Candles. How will they impact the fate of the City, the Guardians, and the Traveler?

Only time will tell.

Until next time, this is Beowulf and the OC Crew signing out!


	4. Ch 4: Enlightened

Chapter 3: Enlightened

(Meridian Bay, Mars)

It was a wasteland.

Twice before, Mars was a world of prosperity. Today, it was cold, dusty, and inhospitable. The chilly winds swept the sand up into tiny dust devils that spiraled with life for mere seconds before dying out. So for the most part, it was deathly quiet.

 _CRAK-KABOOM!_

Well….that was until the Cabal arrived.

The sound of an artillery shell shattered the silence in the Barrens.

"Alright boys! Clear it out!" a Centurion ordered, "We run Blacktop in T-minus one minute!" The Legionaries leaped into the gap and tore out the giant boulders in the way.

The Centurion nodded, then turned to his fellow soldiers around a large metal 'table'.

"I've got thirty scraps on Quida!" one placed three coins on the table.

"Nah! Galeo has this one in the bag!" another said. But they all stood up to salute the Centurion, Haldov, as he entered.

"At ease, men. You're betting on the Runners?" Haldovw, questioned.

"Yes, sir!" one nodded, "Quite a few of the soldiers are betting as they work right now."

"I've only heard of the Siege Dancers' Runners, but I've never seen them in action", another said.

"But why would they bother helping the Dust Giants?"

"It's because we're venturing into the unknown", Haldov told them, "The Dust Giants exist to hold ground in claimed areas for long periods. But the Siege Dancers are something along the lines of explorers. We've never seen any of Mars beyond those cliffs. Rather than having, a dropship go in blindly, we need to survey the land from the ground."

An engine roared outside of the mobile bunker as a dropship hovered overhead. Several soldiers dropped to the ground before the ship took off. Several Legionaries, Centurions, and even a Collosus stood before them. Their armor was light blue with bright yellow bands, as opposed to the Dust Giants' green armor.

"Excellent!" Haldov walked out to meet the Collosus, Valon Creed, "I hope that your Runners, are ready."

"We'll be trying something new this time", he said, "The Runners are all out in northwestern Meridian Bay, near Sector Five. But we have a rookie, fresh from the Fleet's academy with us. He's yet to be assigned to a mission and we believe that this may prove to be an ideal chance to prove himself."

A single Psion stepped out from behind the leader. Psions were tiny in comparison, but they were faster. It made them perfect explorers.

His name was Corbit. No last name. Just Corbit.

The Psion looked to his surroundings as they talked. But he quickly grew bored and began to walk over to the pass.

"I can assure you that…" Creed stopped to see the Psion already nearing the top of a seven story tall rock spire.

"What is he doing?!" Haldov turned to see him.

"I've heard that he was something of a free runner", Creed smiled, "Even before his training he was agile."

"No! Not that! He's in the demolition zone!" Haldov pointed to the explosives set near the spire.

"CORBIT!" Creed roared, finally seeing the problem.

 _BOOM!_

Too late. The charges detonated in six areas around the spire. The whole rock formation began to fall into a wider formation like a falling tree.

Corbit growled before leaping off of the top and down the spire. The formation split into the other parts that began to fall. In a split second, Corbit could see the path to take.

He fired up his jump pack for a mere moment to rocket him forward. He leaped forward off of the top fragment of the spire while flipping backwards. He skidded along a smoother ridge and then slid through a short cavern before crouching. The fragment he was on was landing on top of a 'notch' in the mountainside. The fragment was caught in the middle to form something like an oversized seesaw. Corbit's end was long and thin, but the opposing half was much larger in width. The larger part fell straight to the ground, lifting up the far end very rapidly.

Timing it, Corbit leaped off of the rock as it launched him like a catapult back over the troops. He made some minute adjustments with his rockets, but landed right back in front of Creed and Haldov, using his arms to help catch him.

His crew cheered.

"What were you thinking?!" Haldov scolded the Psion, "You nearly got yourself killed!"

"No. What were _you_ thinking?" the Psion retorted.

"That is no way to talk to a higher officer!" Creed raised his voice a little.

"Let me make my point!" Corbit snapped, "You destroyed what very well could have been an ideal vantage point!" All of the others looked to each other in surprise. "It could have provided an ideal lookout tower for the Dust Giants' Psions even after we finished our job."

"We had orders to provide access to the territory beyond this point!" Haldov barked, "If we have to blast the entire mountain, then we will most certainly do so!"

"If you destroy a mountain, then all around it would most certainly notice! For example," he pointed off to Haldov's right, "that colony of Vex about half a mile past those dunes may not have known we were here before, but they definitely know now! You have to at least let one thought cross your minds before you blow stuff up!"

"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?" Haldov got in Corbit's face.

"I'm the one who climbed to the top of that spire and survived your explosives and the fall without a scratch. I'm the one who's responsible for telling you what use can come from the land we explore. As long as I'm the only Runner present, we do things my way." He walked towards the rubble leaving the others in silence.

Then he turned back for a moment, "And about those Vex I saw, they should get here in about five minutes at the rate they're moving. Set up a defense while we do our job."

.

(Ishtar Sink, Venus)

Keplar peeked out from behind the corner as three chattering hobgoblins passed.

"They're on edge", Drifter noted, "But there are no Fallen readings out here."

"What about the Sparrow? Can you call it in?" Kep asked.

"No. Still interference. The link is over there. Let me check it out", Drifter said as they ran over. The Ghost began to scan the piece of machinery.

"Fascinating", he muttered, "Whoever fixed the link did more than just put it back together, they completely reprogrammed the system! More than that, the coding is half as long as traditional Guardian systems."

"Do you think it's a form of Golden Age programing?" Kep asked.

"Definitely not Golden Age. It's not Vex, or Fallen. I've never seen anything like this. Hey, incoming transition on the fireteam's channel. It's Ison." The com line opened.

"Ison, what's going on up there?" Kep asked.

"I just finished talking to the Queen", the Exo stated, "Let me tell you that they are _not_ people who appreciate visitors."

"Well spit it out already. What did you learn?"

"The queen hasn't told me where the garden is _yet_ , but she said she'd make us a key if we can get the head of a Vex Gate Lord."

Keplar chuckled at this, "Just like the knights of medieval times, riding off to slay the dragon to prove our worth. Cliché."

"Kep, this is not a matter to take lightly!" Drifter said with a hint of warning in his voice, "Gate Lords are over three stories tall and pack one heck of a punch."

"Not to mention that they guard the spaces that the Vex keep locked out of time", Ison added.

"Time?!" Drifter and Keplar said at once.

"You heard me right! Time! The Future War Cult would kill to get their hands on technology like that!" Ison stated.

"Well, how do we call one out?" Kep asked.

"Leave that to me", Drifter picked up, "Just get us to the Endless Steps and I'll mess with their transfer gates. It should cause enough of a ruckus to catch a Gate Lord's attention."

"Ben," Ison continued, "I'm about to make a jump to Venus. I need you to take down that Gate Lord. I'll make the pickup so we can get the head to the Queen and get you back to finding your Sparrow."

"Alright, then. Where's the Gate Lord?" Kep looked around. Suddenly, a map of the entire Ishtar Sink appeared on Keplar's HUD. It zoomed in to his location and showed him as a dot.

"Uh, Drifter. Was that you?" Kep said with an uneasy tone.

"Wasn't me", Drifter said as another dot appeared, "A beacon? Kep! In that cave!"

Keplar looked to his left to see a familiar piece of metal poking out of one of the caves, covered by moss.

"The Sparrow!" Keplar ran to it as he dusted it off, "But it wasn't here last time I saw it!"

"Now that I think of it," Drifter scanned as Keplar got on, "a lot of this stuff wasn't here before. Someone fixed your Sparrow too."

"Do you think it'll get us to the Steps?" Kep asked. Suddenly, his HUD map zoomed out and drew a path to the desired location. A moment later, the engine roared to life. Keplar had just enough time to grab the handle bars and put his feet in place before the entire Sparrow high-tailed out of the cave!

"I'll take that as a yes!" Drifter vanished, "I think whoever fixed your Sparrow added a voice activated navigation system!"

"Right now I don't care!" Keplar laughed as the Sparrow rocketed off at new high speeds, "So long as it gets us there, I'm game!"

"FALLEN!" Drifter barked as they approached a group of pike bearing Vandals.

"Nevermind!" Keplar braced himself. The map then flashed red and marked a new route. This caused the Sparrow to veer to the right and into a cave!

"They're coming after us!" Drifter said, "Hold on tight!"

The Sparrow weaved through the caverns while easily outrunning the pikes behind them. Finally, a light shined at the end of the tunnel.

"Uh-oh!" Keplar's smile fell as the shadow of another pike formed in the exit ahead of them. But the Sparrow veered onto the slope of the tunnel in a complete loop over the head of the dreg that waited for them. Kep could hear screams behind them as the other two pikes rocketed out of the tunnel and into the stationary third pike with a resounding _BOOM!_

They sped forward in silence for a moment.

"Did that really just happen?" Keplar asked.

"Yep. That's a thing. It happened", Drifter said as he began to scan, "There has to be some sort of AI in control of this thing. It spotted all of the Vex transfer gates, led us past them, and found a way around the fallen in a mere instant! Whoever designed this system knows what he's doing."

The Sparrow slowed to a stop at the edge of a cliff. On the other side of a short gap, they could see a large transfer gate that stood over nine stories tall!

"And that is where we'll find the Gate Lord", Drifter stated as Keplar blinked across the gap and landed in front of the gate.

The ground trembled and a metallic groan filled the air. A massive leg stepped out of the portal, followed by the massive, hulking body of a Gate Lord.

"He was waiting for us!" Keplar dove for cover. The giant let out a metallic roar as it fired at the cliff face. The caves and the mountain pass were suddenly blocked by a pile of boulders.

"And now he's cutting us off!" Drifter stated, "We have to take it down now, and whatever you do, don't shoot its head!"

"Got it!" Keplar nodded, "I know just the thing!" He whipped out his hand cannon and fired three shots into the giant's chest. Zydron, the Gate Lord, looked at them and returned fire. For about a minute they played a game of quick draw Marco Polo.

"Drifter! How much longer do I have?"

"Give it about twelve seconds!"

Keplar nodded and dashed towards the giant. Zydron lifted up his foot and slammed it down where Keplar should have been had he not blinked. Its body trembled as it instead stepped on a detonating skip grenade!

"Alright! Let's play doctor!" Keplar said as a pair of Arc Blades formed in his hands.

 _SHING!_ In a flash, Zydron's right arm and left leg were severed. The giant tried to catch itself, but suddenly went limp as its head rolled away from the rest of the body.

"Nice work!" Ison said as his jump ship entered the clearing, "I would have jumped in to help you, but I saw how you had it all under control."

"Perfect timing, wingnut!" the hunter rolled his eyes, "Just pick up the package and let's go!"

"Alright!" he said as his transmat picked up the Gate Lord's head, "I'll see you back at the Tower!" the warlock made it above the clouds in moments.

"Alright! Call in the ship and let's get out of here!" Kep said. A few moments later, his ship dropped in.

"Duck!" Drifter called as a ball of void energy crashed into the back of the ship.

"No!" Kep said as Drifter directed it behind a large rock formation, "Give me something Drifter! What happened?!"

"Give me a second!" Drifter said as he checked the ship, "Blast it! The ship will still fly, but they hit the warp drive! It's impossible to make a jump!" Another ball zipped past Keplar's head as he saw a gigantic Vex Hydra.

"Sekrion!" Keplar yelled as he dove for cover again, "The whole thing was a trap!"

Again the blast came and this time the Vex Mind was right behind them! It looked down at them and charged up a void beam from its one eye.

"Come on, NO!" Keplar screamed as the beam fired. And…..kept on firing.

Keplar opened his eyes again. The continuous void beam was being stopped by a wall of void energy. A single figure was silhouetted against the blinding light.

"Go!" a mechanical voice called to him, "Get to the sync plate! Hurry!"

Keplar had no time to think. Skidded into the plate with a baseball slide. The portal powered up again and Keplar's jump ship came back into the clearing at full speed.

"I'm not controlling it!" Drifter said in disbelief, "Something else is!"

They looked back to the figure holding off the continuous fire of Sekrion

"You….won't bind me anymore!" he roared as the ship flew straight into the portal.

At the same time, Keplar and Drifter found themselves safely inside of the jump ship. The portal closed up right behind them. The transmat had activated to pull Keplar, Drifter, and the Sparrow into the ship just before the gate could close on them!

"Drifter! Look!" Keplar pointed out the window to see the giant white form of the Traveler himself!

"Of course!" Drifter realized, "That guy we ran into must have programmed the gate to take us straight back to Earth!"

"But what about that guy?" Keplar asked, "What happened to him? Whoa!" The ship suddenly jumped forward. Keplar was forced to take the controls and steer the ship down to the Tower.

Keplar and Drifter were suddenly beamed down to the Tower's Plaza while the ship went back to the docks.

"Now the ship?!" Kep said.

"I'm starting to think that it wasn't just a hacker. There's a life reading from inside of the ship!" Drifter scanned the ship from afar.

"A stowaway?! How did it get inside in the first place?!"

"But the only thing that we took with us was…" Drifter continued but stopped as Amanda Holliday screamed from the south side of the tower. People dove out of the way as a very familiar piece of machinery rocketed out of the corridor.

"The Sparrow!" Keplar and Drifter gasped at the same time. Keplar blinked and grabbed onto the back of the speeding Sparrow as it flew past.

"Drifter! Stop it!" Keplar said as they zoomed down the corridor to the North Tower.

"I can't! Something in the system is forcing me out! No, _someone!_ It's him!" Drifter said.

Finally they reached the Northern Courtyard. The Sparrow sped through, but suddenly turned ninety degrees to the left and stopped. Keplar was thrown off and was sent rolling for over thirty feet.

"Everybody stand back!" a group of guardians arrived with their weapons ready.

The crowd parted as the three Vanguard leaders stepped forward, Ikora Rey of the Warlocks, Cayde-6 of the Hunters, and Commander Zavala of the Titans.

"Finally, some action", Cayde flexed his neck, "Keplar, that's your Sparrow, right?"

"It _was_ my Sparrow", he replied.

"There's….something _alive_ in there!" Ikora stated as her Ghost scanned the strange thing from afar. All were silent for a few moments.

The Sparrow finally began to move forward at walking pace. The vehicle slowly rotated forward as it changed from a Sparrow, into a humanoid shape. It was just shorter than a Vex Minotaur and was very thin. Its head looked almost like a guardian's helmet, but had visible facial features that were almost disturbingly human. The fins that stood at the front of the Sparrow were now against his back, folded almost like a pair of wasp wings.

"At last", it sighed with relief as it stepped forward into the Speaker's chamber.

"I say we shoot it now", Cayde readied his scout rifle.

"Hold your fire", Zavala said calmly, "Perhaps we should see what it wants."

The cyborg stepped into the Speaker's chamber. It gazed at the machine in the middle of the room and the hologram in the center. Its right hand reached forward and closed around the imaginary sphere, like it was actually in front of him. Its eyes widened for a moment as something else caught its eyes.

Its fins stretched out behind it and a pair of void energy wings formed beneath them, flapping rapidly but silently as the being was lifted slowly up into the air. About twenty-five feet up, he saw the Traveler in the light of the setting sun.

"Traveler", it said quietly, but audible to all. It lowered itself back to the platform and hid its wings.

"So it's true."

The cyborg looked to his left to see a man dressed in white with a mask over his face.

"A creature of Darkness by birth, but one so driven to reach for the Light that he would abandon his very being just to catch even a mere glimpse at its source. And here you are, Glitch."

"How do you know my name?" the cyborg asked in surprise.

"I have heard a great deal of you from Benjamin Keplar", the Speaker told him as they both looked to the hunter in the background "The Traveler has prophesized your coming, and I am overjoyed to see that his will was carried out so perfectly. I bid you welcome to the Last City." The Speaker shook his hand in welcome and then spoke to the crowd.

"Fellow Guardians. Today, a great prophecy comes one step closer to being fulfilled", the crowd put down their weapons to listen, "The Traveler has led an outstanding individual into his Light. I proudly present to you, the first of the prophecy. Glitch, the Enlightened Candle!"

(End of Chapter 4)

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Greetings Earthlings! Beowulf here!

Sure enough, the prophecy is being fulfilled! It took me a while to belt this one out. Let's hope the rest turn out fine.

If you're tuning in from one of my other stories, I am terribly sorry for not updating any others as of late. I am running on the worst writer's block I've ever had! If you have any Ideas that you would like to share, please do!

If you like what you see, feel free to review, PM, favorite, and subscribe. Remember, none of these are expected, but always appreciated!

This is Beowulf and the OC Crew signing out!


	5. Chapter 5: Into the Pit

Chapter 5: Into the Pit

(Tower)

"So that was their motivation, all this time", the Speaker sighed as he and Glitch walked.

With his undying certainty of the cyborg's good intentions, the Speaker had finally gotten the guardians settled down and back to their daily routines.

"I see it more as arrogance", Glitch's deep mechanical voice almost purred, "It led them to believe that they were so superior that they could no longer evolve. Led to a disregard for other life and. Unable to see that Vex evolved in the incorrect way. At least…..that is what I perceive."

"But regardless, I find your insight to be a major step for us. We still understand very little of your former race. But then again I doubt that we'll ever understand them completely."

"Neither will I, Voice", Glitch said surprising the Speaker, "The soldiers have undying blind faith in the Minds. But I found that the Minds were too secretive. Only they know our inner workings perfectly."

"I suppose that would make sense", the Speaker said as they stepped out into the main courtyard, "Placing secrets out of the reach of the battlefield is a wise decision. We would have known much more about their dimensional crossing by now. Unless of course, you know something."

Glitch looked deep into his memory as he tried to develop an explanation. But he shook his head.

"I understand 4th and 5th dimensional travel to a decent extent. However, explaining it in human language, rather than Vex terms, is difficult."

But as they walked, Glitch stopped and turned towards a tent with Awoken man in a yellow parka in front. He was speaking to a hooded woman with ghostly pale features.

"I keep trying to tell you, Eris, what the engrams turn out to be is out of my control. Each one is a puzzle. I don't control what the picture is, I just put it back together."

"You must at least have a decoherent engram", the woman calmly requested.

"Even those are hard to come by", the man explained, "Selling engrams is based on supply, because the demand is always up. However, I do have one Legend Engram left. But it's a class item." They both looked to see the Speaker following close behind a certain robot.

"It appears that your wares have caught our guest's interest", the Speaker said to Rahool.

"Your grace! What brings you here?" the Vendor bowed.

"He did", the Speaker motioned to Glitch who picked up the small purple engram, the size of a baseball.

"What is this?" he asked, "This state of matter is unknown to me."

"Matter", Rahool explained, as he placed a glowing blue cube on the table, "has its states of solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. But it also has three states of confinement. Like digital information, matter can be blank, programmed or encrypted. For example, glimmer is a state of blank, but programmable matter. The atoms are separated and can be manipulated freely to create any element and/or molecular compound that can physically exist. "

Programmed matter, your armor has a definitive form and abides by several physical properties that are naturally encoded. The majority of all matter is programmed.

"And finally, there are engrams. Their atomic structures have already been determined, but its atoms have been scrambled, or encrypted into a compacted state, allowing them to be stored without the danger of deterioration. With the correct method, they can be untangled back into their previous states. The Cryptarchs are experts at unlocking engrams and providing their contents to the Guardians."

Now even more intrigued, Glitch scanned the engram.

"This is…..computer coding", he said softly, "I sense a pattern." He picked up a piece of glimmer and put the two together as he began to both reprogram and decode the engram!

There was a light clink as a piece of silver colored scale mail fell into his hands.

"Well, that's a new one", Rahool said calmly but with great interest.

"I saw something that looked like a belt, and I upgraded it", Glitch said looking at it.

"That was a Titan mark", the Speaker told him, "But now it has properties of the Hunter's cloak and a Warlock bond. I believe you made something new."

"That method was new", Rahool watched as Glitch strapped it over his right shoulder and around his waist, "I always thought about modifying an engram with glimmer, but I never knew exactly how to do it."

Eris muttered something to herself and began to walk away.

"Eris", the Speaker stopped her, "Something has you a little worked up."

"I don't know", she sighed "But something is transpiring on our moon."

"Is it Crota?" he asked.

"No, and it isn't the ritual you spoke of. There is something up there that should not possibly exist. It feels like a gentle warmth, but it flickers with instinctive rage like a creature of Darkness. I fear something terrible is happening."

Deep down, the Speaker had an idea of what it was and he wouldn't dare say it in front of Eris, of all people.

He was right.

.

(Earth's moon)

Alongside the Hellmouth, one would find a small ritual site, inside a small series of walls. If one were quiet enough, one would find six acolytes that patrolled it while a single knight kneeling in reverence with his sword tip in the ground.

His name was Banuk of Ur, of the four Swarm Princes.

While he and his brothers were warriors, Banuk almost always spent his time in silent prayer to his lost king. No one ever dared to interrupt his meditation.

 _Crunch!_

That sound caught the Prince's attention. He lifted his head and looked around. He checked his surroundings.

 _Is everyone accounted for? One, two, three four, five…_

But there were only five acolytes, not six. Perhaps one of them heard that same sound in the distance and went to investigate. Smiling at the thought of having such a dedicated soldier, Banuk lowered his head and resumed his prayer.

 _SNAP!_

The prince jolted upright at the sharp and sudden sound. Now he was slightly annoyed.

"Who was that?" Banuk grumbled.

"Not us, your grace", the Acolytes showed themselves, bowing to their master. But not all were present.

 _Only four? Did another one decide to scout?_

"Do not bother scouting out the area, you four. Remain in the holy ground", Banuk commanded as he knelt down and returned to a meditative state. The acolytes were still slightly confused. Why would they scout the area when they were supposed to stay there? But they all resumed their posts.

 _Finally, peace and quiet. No more interruptions._

 _CRACK!_

Banuk growled before standing back up and yelling, "WHO IS MAKING THAT NOISE?!"

"Don't look at me", an acolyte peeked over the wall, while another stepped around the corner.

 _Only two now! Something isn't right!_

"You two! To my side!" Banuk ordered. The acolyte ran around the corner to his master while the other one nodded and dropped back behind the wall.

The other Acolyte screamed in agony just before its body fell limp from the end of the wall.

"What happened?!" the final acolyte ran over and picked up his fallen comrade. But only Banuk noticed a very familiar blinking light now attached to the corpse's waist!

"Get back! It's a grenade!" Banuk yelled. The acolytes eyes went wide with horror just before a bright flash blinded them. Only Banuk covered his eyes. It was a flashbang. When he looked again, the acolyte was dead, sparking with electricity.

Banuk drew his blade, "How dare you lay waste to these chosen ones! Show yourself!" For a few seconds, he looked around and saw nothing.

Then there was movement to his right and Banuk swung his sword, only to miss and have it wrenched from his hands. And even then, he hardly even saw him. He picked up a pair of Shredders from the acolytes and looked around.

A blue streak off to his left caught the corner of his eyes.

"You're mine!" he fired, but was spun around as the thing disappeared. He dropped one of his guns and grabbed his sword again.

"Coward! Come out and fight me with honor!" he slammed the ground, causing rocks to tumble from the cliff.

 _CLANG!_

Banuk turned suddenly to a spot where a rock had hid a group of boulders, and apparently something metal. Now Banuk looked closer and realized that one of the boulders wasn't a boulder. Hiding amongst the rocks was a suit of rugged rock-like Willbreaker armor and a Vanguard custom Titan helmet! All of it was in a Thunderdevil armor shader, which _perfectly_ matched the lunar landscape! And it was almost as tall as Banuk!

The Titan rushed forward, landing an uppercut to the knight's chin.

As Banuk fell backwards, he watched as the titan's form was silhouetted against planet Earth in the lunar sky. The Titan's right fist burst into a blaze of arc light.

 _Who…..what the hell are you?!_

That was the last thing to cross Banuk's mind as the Titan rocketed towards him and a Fist of Havoc detonated in the prince's face at point blank.

.

(The Shrine of Oryx, beneath the lunar surface)

A deep melodic chant filled the air as the Hive acolytes, wizards and knights stood in their liturgy. Dakoor, Garok, and Merok stood near the front with the high wizard, Zylia, in prayer to Oryx.

Then Garok suddenly stopped his chant in mid word. His brothers and everyone else present went silent in anticipation. The Prince slowly walked up the steps and looked to the ball of Darkness in the center.

A scene briefly flashed before his eyes, the last thing that Banuk saw. But Garok couldn't even catch a glimpse until the very end. He screamed and fell to his hands and knees.

"Brother!" Dakoor rushed to him and helped him stand, "What's the matter?!"Garok hung on to his brother's shoulder, trembling.

"I don't know…..I saw the Ritual site. Something was there", he shivered, "And Banuk….he's dead!" The hive in the area chattered in fear until the Eir Prince silenced them with a raised hand and then closed his eyes.

"Hmmm…." Merok opened his eyes and stated glumly, "I'm afraid that you are correct. I can no longer sense his presence. He is with Crota now." A silence fell for a few moments before Merok asked, "What else did you see?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it's strong", He said as he regained his bearings, "And it's coming for us."

"Then we have no time to lose", Merok picked up his staff, "Judging by where he is, the closest location he can hit is the Sword's Keep. We can assume that our King's weapon is what he is after. The only way /it can be destroyed is if he can kill its creators, us. As of right now, the number one priority is protecting the sword."

"Send in your Rook then", Garok growled, "Banuk was never much of a fighter, but your secret weapon should prove to be an equal opponent."

"No", Merok snapped, "We will not release it unless we are already in the heat of battle and he detects a threat. Either way, how would it know what to look for?" A short but quiet growl arose from Merok's chosen thrall.

"Fine then", Garok snarled before dashing off, "I'll fight him myself!" He picked up his giant battle axe at the door.

"For his sake and ours, I hope he can at least survive this", Dakoor sighed at his brother's headstrong demeanor.

"Even if he does die, we can still revive him and Banuk when Crota returns", Merok reminded him.

"That's still cold, even for you", Dakoor said.

"Everyone else," Merok addressed the crowd, "we have an intruder in our midst. Track him down and kill him on sight!"

His chosen thrall nodded and turned to the rest of the crowd before screaming in a battle cry, which was instantly taken up by the rest of the forces.

" _Very good, little one."_

 _Why not just do it now?_

" _We have something that we must acquire first. But you must get to that Guardian. You'll know what to do."_

.

"I cannot believe that you just did that", Hubble said to Diego as he skidded to a stop and peeked around a corner.

"It was just a knight."

"Just a knight? That was the Ur Prince and you killed him with your bare hands in seconds! You're lucky that Eris gave you this armor." The Ghost was cut off as Diego mowed down an unsuspecting group of thralls with his Shingen-E Auto Rifle.

"I would prefer that we keep talking to a minimum", Diego said emotionlessly, "With these freaks you have to listen to every sound, and I can't hear them well in a conversation."

"Ugh. Alright", Hubble shut up. He understood that Diego Rust had a strong dislike for the hive, especially Knights. He almost lost his little brother to one years before. Ever since, the Titan had a habit of basically slaughtering the giants with his bare hands and taking shards of their armor as trophies. To him, killing them mattered more than the mission at times. This mission in particular had him hyped because his targets were Knights.

 _The_ Knights.

"I share Eris' concern", he continued once he knew the room was clear.

"Hold it!" Hubble made him stop in his tracks as he scanned the room, "I'm picking up remains of a _really_ strong Light trail. Someone, not hive, was down here recently."

"Where does it lead?" Diego asked.

"I don't know. There's a strong darkness reading that's interfering. What kind of Hive would just display it like that for a Guardian to pick up? It's like they're flagging…..Rust! Incoming on your right!"

Diego jumped backwards as a hole was blasted in the cavern wall, and a massive Knight skidded out. This one bore a giant battle axe.

"And that is the source of the interference", Hubble said.

"YOU THERE!" a voice bellowed and Diego went stiff.

"It just spoke English", Diego raised an eyebrow behind his helmet.

"Banuk…..was killed by a lowly Guardian?!" the Knight slammed his axe into the ground, making the cavern shake, "I'm feeding your remains to the Thalls in the Hellmouth's maze!"

"So. Who are you then, telling me what goes to the pit?" Diego cocked his auto rifle without a hint of emotion in his voice.

"I am Garok! The Xol Prince and brother to Banuk! You'll suffer for what you did to him!" He tore his axe from the ground and slashed at the Titan who rolled beneath the blade. He fired at Garok for a second, but to little effect.

"Pathetic!"Garok quickly used the backside of the axe like a hammer, sending Diego flying through three sets of doors and out onto a bridge, "You just got lucky when you killed him!"

Diego tried to get back up but was pushed onto his back where his head was hanging over the edge of the bridge and over the foggy void below. Garok had already kicked the auto rifle to the other side of the bridge and now he had his foot down on Dieago's chest.

"I want you to look over your shoulder. I'll let you have one good long look. You see that pit?" Diego looked down into the pit below him and he almost gagged from knowing that there was nothing there.

"That pit is connected to Hellmouth. At the bottom of both, miles down there, is Crota's Palace. And the entire area surrounding it is a maze filled with _thousands_ of Thralls. I change my mind. I'm not sending what's left of you there", his foot edged him closer to the drop "I'll just throw you in alive! Your Titan lift can save your life from the fall without a doubt. But once you're down there, you'll be hunted, overrun, torn limb from limb in the darkest place we have to offer you! They won't show you mercy, the way you showed my brother no mercy!" Garok stomped on Diego's stomach, forcing the breath out of his lungs. The Gound beneath him cracked a little, "That is how you are going to die. But I want to know one thing before you go down. Who are you? I want Dakoor and Merok to know exactly who killed our brother."

"Diego Rust", he said, slowly placing something on the ground from his belt, "But you won't have to let them know. I'll tell them myself!" he pressed the button and Garok gasped and then screamed as he was blasted in the face with a lightning grenade.

Diego slipped out from under his foot and stood back up.

"And those thralls! Tell them all I said to burn in Hell!" he slammed into the knight with a shoulder charge and sent him howling over the edge of the bridge and into the abyss below. Diego then whipped out his heavy weapon, a rocket launcher made by Eris called Hunger of Crota.

"Now, burn in Hell yourself!" He said as the homing rocket raced into the abyss, followed soon after by an ear shattering _BOOM!_

"Diego, you do realize that what you did was overkill, right?" Hubble looked to his Guardian.

"For a Titan, there's no such thing, especially when Knights are involved, and _especially_ when it's a Knight like that. I couldn't give less than a damn about it. I actually enjoy having to call for cleanup afterwards."

(End of Chapter 5)

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Greetings Earthlings! Beowulf is back, bringing you chapter five on the fly!

Finally, we have a chance for Diego Rust to take a little spotlight. He may be quiet around the team, but he knows how to make an ending explosive in all the right ways!

Anyways, if you like what you see, give me a holler!

This is Beowulf and the OC Crew signing out!


	6. Chapter 6: With Others in Mind

Chapter 6: With Others in Mind

(Meridian Bay, Mars)

"Let's let the canyon RUMBLE!" the announcer yelled and the soldiers cheered.

Any guardian would tell you that the Cabal were completely militaristic, and for the most part, they are. But the Cabal were always quick to jump into their posts when any intruder advance on their turf. But when they weren't on duty, once the coast was clear, they had their share of pastimes.

One of the favorites was the Psion Chase. After an area had been scouted, the Psions had a chance to cut loose and run a course marked in the new claimed territory.

On the other side of the spectrum was Scrap Ball.

"Heads up! Throw down!" Four giant balls of compacted scrap metal were launched into the arena and the four Legionaries grabbed them and dove for cover. One went straight for the offensive and hurled his ball at another, and the second Legionnaire was blown back.

"Direct hit!" the announcer called as the crowd cheered. The first two dove for each other and locked arms in a wrestler's hold.

Scrap Ball was a simple combination of dodgeball and wrestling. All the combatants had to do was weaken their opponents to exhaustion using only their fists and giant hunks of salvaged scrap metal. It may seem a little bit too simple, but the Cabal saw this competition in a different light.

What few foreigners realized was that the Cabal weren't just fighting because they were pugnacious or aggressive. It was all about strength. To the Cabal, testing your strength against another strengthened bonds of comradery. If they grew as comrades, they all knew that they had grown stronger as a cause, as an army, and most important of all, as a race.

There was no prize at the end of the match because merely fighting in the ring was a privilege and an honor. The fighters and all who watched enjoyed every second of it regardless of who won or lost.

Within minutes only one Legionnaire remained standing. The winner helped the other competitors stand up as the crowd cheered. The entire stage lifted up as the Psions entered.

"Alright! Now it's time for the Psion Chase!" the announcer called, "Our course today runs through the Web Ravines. Hundreds of buttes and plateaus fill the course, resulting in hundreds of gullies, ravines, and chasms between them. The course itself is the entire area not above the plateau flats. Beyond that, anywhere goes! The objective is to reach the checkpoint on the far side and come back. Runners, the way you take to make it there and come back is entirely up to you."

The Psions were from both the Dust Giants and the Siege Dancers. They chattered amongst themselves as they prepared for their run.

The Psions were different. They couldn't compete with the normal Cabal in terms of strength. But the focus of a Psion was strategy, speed, and mobility. They were all areas where the larger Cabal lacked in. Sharpening these was the Psion equivalent of Cabal sparring matches.

"Careful near the start", a Psion alerted the others, "There's a crevice down the middle path that drops half a mile into a cave." The others nodded, remembering that out-of-nowhere drop from their survey.

But then they all looked to the one silent Psion, Corbit. Supposedly he hadn't spoken a word since his argument with Haldov. Behind his mask, his eyes were closed in concentration. His body periodically sparked with arc energy, and he was floating a few inches off the ground. All Psions had some level of psychokinetic and arc based power.

"What is your scout doing?" Haldov muttered to Creed from the lookout high on the cliff, "He's activating his arc power."

The previously bored Valon Creed was now fully awake at those words.

"I take it from your reaction that something is wrong", Haldov asked.

"Not necessarily", Creed zeroed in on Corbit in the distance "But as long as he's been at the academy and even here, he's never turned it on. Not even when he's practicing. Something must be up if he's turning it on now of all times."

A few seconds later, Corbit fell back onto his feet again, his hand on the side of his head.

"Is something wrong?" Quida asked.

"Something is…..we missed something in our survey. Something's in there", Corbit observed the course ahead.

"But that's impossible!" Galeo said from the far end of the group "We checked everything!"

Corbit growled to himself as he thought of the one thing that the Cabal never checked: that pit. The timer counted down.

"You guys, go on without me", Corbit sighed, "Whatever you do, stay away from that pit!"

 _KA-BLOOM!_

The cannon fired and the Psions darted forward. The moment that they were in the Web Ravines, Corbit sent a message.

"Creed, this is Corbit. I'm picking up a bad vibe from this place. I'm dropping out of the race and am going to investigate."

"Are you sure that it's that bad? If so, I can send-"

"Do not send reinforcements, Commander. The other runners don't sense it, making me the only one who's both capable and _willing_ to perform such a scouting mission. I have to go down into the caverns."

"Permission granted", Creed confirmed, "But at depths like that, we'll get a lot of interference. Place some repeaters every now and then so we don't completely lose the com line. But I want you to promise me that if you should meet opposition, you must return to the surface immediately. Do not engage."

"You have my word", Corbit nodded as he skidded to a halt in front of the chasm "I'm sending you a feed of my helmet camera now."

"Whoa!" Creed said after a few moments, "I can't believe I didn't see that sooner! Then again, if it's where I think it is, then I wouldn't have fit down that path."

"I told you, I'm the only one who can do this. Hold on." Corbit turned around and fired a concentrated Psionic Blast at the path he took. The now thinner arc beam easily carved through the Martian stone, making a large circle that was bigger than a Colossus. A much wider blast blew the now separated boulder to bits, clearing the now much wider pathway.

"Nice thinking, scout", Creed nodded "Just be careful, and don't get lost. There's no telling how far those caverns stretch in any direction."

"Do you have any idea of who you're talking to?" Corbit quickly scaled the wall of the plateau and placed a signal repeater in the wide open area, "I mapped the entire under-city tunnel system back on the home world just because I got bored!"

"That was you?!" Creed's eyebrows shot up in shock behind his helmet.

"Yep. Compared to that, a cave system should be easy." Corbit jumped down and skidded down the side of the chasm before jumping across to the other side, slowing his descent a little. He continued this until he was safely at the bottom, where he placed a repeater. The Psion pressed a button and his armor emitted a glow that illuminated the entire chamber. His navigation system glitched for a moment.

"What the…" he tapped his helmet and the system corrected. He then climbed up one of the large columns and place a repeater on the ceiling. But he realized something after he hit the ground again.

"Wait. A column? Commander, do you know what this means?" Corbit asked.

"I do", Creed picked up on where Corbit was going "Those columns could have formed through stalactites and stalagmites meeting. In order to have either one, water has to come into play."

"Exactly!" Corbit said excitedly "But even if these weren't made by that method, some sort of erosive force had to have carved it out! My best guess is that if there was, or still is water, it must have flowed further down the cave! We won't have to have our water stores imported from the home world now!"

"Corbit, get down there and map out that cave!"

Without a second thought, Corbit turned on his map builder which constructed a 3D model of the surrounding cave, building on as he proceeded.

"Temperatures are rising", Corbit checked his HUD "Currently 45* F, and rising slowly. Actually, there's a high concentration of…. _oxygen_ down here."

Suddenly, his compass bugged out.

"Should have figured. Magnetic field, and a strong one too. It's keeping the gases in place, like a mini atmosphere! Whoa!"

The ground beneath his feet gave way as he fell into a lit chamber. Corbit looked up and quietly gasped at the sight before him.

He stood on an alcove in the wall of a massive cavern. The floor was comprised of maybe a dozen perfectly carved "plateaus" with gaps between them and running water in some places. And lightly coating the tops were fields of colorful flora. A light green tint filled the air.

"It's…beautiful!" Corbit breathed "Creed, are you seeing this?!"

"I get it!" Creed watched "The magnetic field is maintaining an atmosphere that can support life!"

"Come to think of it, Mars doesn't have a magnetosphere, and thereby has a hostile atmosphere", Corbit thought.

"Hold it, scout. Look to your ten o'clock", Creed ordered. Corbit turned to see a shining metal plate held up by a mechanical frame, "That looks almost exactly like the structure in the Giant's Pass!"

The plate lit up as a portal formed and three robotic forms stepped out.

"Vex!" Corbit ducked, "Why didn't I see it before?! The entire Web Ravines match the designs of the plains in here! The entire race track up there is Vex territory!" Corbit looked into the portal and saw a giant cavern like the one he was in. But this one registered on his map as incomplete. It was larger than the reach of his scanners!

"Corbit", Creed cautioned "You need to get out of there! Now!"

A black cloud appeared, dropping off a Vex Cyclops. That convinced Corbit that it was time to go, and he made it back above ground in moments.

"That plate by the Pass is a Vex portal!" Creed theorized "I'm placing that structure under watch."

"I'm not concerned about that", Corbit told him "Creed, the Vex may be our enemies, but they made that cavern an oasis! That is what this planet has the potential to be! Just think! If we could put a spin on the planet's core and restore its magnetic field, the atmosphere could eventually sustain life! We wouldn't need to keep jumping to new worlds in the hopes of finding a new home! If we could build on this world, rather than tearing it down, we could all prosper!"

"Corbit!" Creed sighed "That is not our call to make. We have orders to conquer this world and await keep moving. I understand your concern, but we cannot disobey orders, and we can't afford to place our resources away from the primary objective."

.

(Sword's Keep, Earth's moon)

In the large, cubic room, a single Knight knelt before a blade that seethed with Darkness. The Sword of Crota, the most powerful blade in the Galaxy.

But the Darkness coming from it was merely a product of something almost worse. Supposedly, whatever metal it was made of was said to be the physical form of Death itself, which is why it drained the life of whatever it touched or cut.

"Hmmm…..Garok…." Dakoor sighed as he sensed it, "I hope that you fought well. Crota, hold him and Banuk in your guard until we can save you all. We need you all alive." The sword flared for a mere moment. "Thank you, my liege. I cannot express…..I see…..thank you." He slowly lifted his head and put his hand to his weapon.

"You can come out now", he said calmly with his eyes closed, "I know that you're right there at the door."

Moments later, footsteps could be heard, along with the cocking of an auto rifle.

"For someone whose purpose is to run in and tank an entire army, you are rather stealthy. I see how you got the jump on Banuk, bless him. If my late brother had not just spoken up, you might have gotten me too." Diego lifted up his gun and took aim.

"Diego Rust, do not do anything rash", the Knight sighed.

"How did you know my name?" the Titan asked.

"Garok and Crota told me", he turned to the Titan, "But even if they hadn't, I knew your name, as well as your reputation for hunting Knights."

"Then who are you?" the Titan questioned.

"I am Dakoor", the Knight reached behind his back and held his long handled war hammer, "The Prince of Yul and brother to the late Banuk and Garok."

For ten seconds, neither one made a move until Dakoor smiled weakly, reached out to his left, and dropped his hammer on its head.

"You are an honorable fighter, yes? Please, lay your weapon down as well. I wish to speak with you."

Diego slowly reached down.

"You are not doing what I think you're doing", Hubble shivered. He placed the auto rifle on the ground.

"Very good", Dakoor said, motioning to the Titan, "Please, follow me." The titan gradually caught up to the Knight as they walked around the room. A door snapped open as a swarm of thralls began to pour out.

"No!" the Knight held his hand out and the thralls skidded to a halt, "This is between the two of us. Return to your posts!" The thralls looked to each other and backed up into the tunnel once more, snarling at the Guardian until the doors closed behind them.

"My apologies. Our thralls became a little….restless since you arrived. They're reckless, but then again, I've seen very few that know any better."

"Why did you drop your weapon?"

"Why did you drop yours?" Dakoor said, "You want to understand your opponent for once, as I do. I see something of a drive in your actions, an undying faith. Or perhaps…the desire to prevent something from reoccurring."

"I don't know what you—"

"I am referring to your brother, Diego."

The Titan turned towards the Knight in an almost threatening way, but Dakoor held his hand in a silencing manner.

"It is my gift. Through watching any person's emotions flare and display themselves, I can understand his past, his thoughts, and his motives, so long as I stay out of combat. I have viewed bits and pieces of your previous fights with our knights and I learned your story. And I understand it."

Diego glared from behind his helmet, but listened.

"You follow orders because you know that doing so will provide for your brother's safety. The shock of such a loss would have crushed you from the inside. I now have to deal with the loss of two of mine. Although they have a hope for recovering, as yours does. As long as I follow my orders, my brothers can return. You came here for that", Dakoor motioned to Crota's sword, "I want little to do with it, but the ones I value and I are tied to its owner by blood. All of us are sons of Crota himself. Too much blood has been shed over this weapon."

"What are you insinuating?" the Titan asked.

"I am suggesting that we both walk away from this. Both of us will cut our losses and we both turn our separate ways. My brothers return while you can work to save yours on the home front. This might not be a truce to end a war, but it can be a truce between my family and yours."

A long silence followed.

"I appreciate your offer", Diego sighed, "But my mission isn't to capture the sword. My mission is to destroy it."

"I understand that", Dakoor turned him back to their weapons, "Your faith is unwavering. You would have made an excellent Knight. Thank you for the chance to talk. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't interesting." He reached for his hammer and spun it around. "But know that I will protect this sword with my life. But don't feel too bad though. If I kill you, I can use your body to create another Knight in an almost perfect image of you. You'll live on as one of us."

"I can only assume that that is a show of chivalry in Hive terms", Diego said, hiding his sarcasm well.

"It actually is", Dakoor said surprising Diego "We do it for honorable opponents who fall against us in the field of battle. It is a highly prestigious honor, I assure you. It's much better than letting a corpse just lie around in a grave to rot."

"Thanks, but no thanks", Diego picked up his rifle, "But then again, if you kill me, I guess I don't have a choice."

"You still do have a choice", Dakoor said, "My offer to let you leave in peace rather than pieces still remains."

"We both know that I can't turn back", Diego closed his eyes readying his stance "It has to be this way."

"Sorry to hear it", the Knight leaped forward and slammed his hammer down with immense speed. Diego dodged by a hair's width.

Dakoor picked up his weapon again and spun it around him in a beautifully executed chain attack, which concluded in a sweep at the Titan's legs. This one was successful. While the Guardian lost his footing, Dakoor swung again, knocking Diego back twenty feet.

Dakoor was on him again in moments and Dieago caught the handle of his hammer. He struggled to hold it as it all began to seethe with Darkness.

"Rust, this is your last chance to walk away", Dakoor brought the hammer down a little lower. Any closer and Dakoor would be able to snap his neck with a quick jab.

"Never!" Diego let the hammer's head line up with his chin and Dakoor attempted to smash his neck with the top of the weapon's top.

But Diego was ready for that.

"Now, Hubble!" the Titan rolled to the side as the hammer buried itself in the ground. Diego spun back onto his feet as something large materialized in his hand.

 _SHING!_

Everything was silent and still. Dakoor groaned as he hit the ground, first his top half, then the bottom.

"How?!" he wheezed "Titans don't carry blades!"

"To quote a Knight I knew, 'I'll let you take a good long look over your shoulder'", Diego told him. Dakoor struggled to look behind him and he gasped to see a black rugged battle axe in the Titan's hands.

"Garok's….axe", he almost cracked a hint of a smile at his own failure, "I should've figured you would've taken that."

"An old Guardian once told me that the true warriors use all the tools at their disposal, even if it comes from an enemy."

"Sorry, but won't get anything from me", Dakoor said as glowing green cracks formed in his hammer before the weapon shattered into hundreds of pieces "But I offer you one last warning. The only remaining prince is Merok of Eir. Guarding him is a single thrall, cursed by his own hand. It was fast and strong enough to nearly kill Garok in seconds, and it is _highly_ intelligent. But understand that if Merok himself finds you, he will not show you mercy. He's methodical, cruel, and is the type of person who would dissect you while you were wide awake. That is why he was Crota's favorite son", he formed a ball of Darkness in his hand and looked into it "Merok, if you should kill this Titan ( _wheeze)_ make him a Knight. His skills and drive prove him worthy", the ball dispersed.

"Diego Rust, my cause was worth dying for, as yours most likely is as well. Regardless of how you judge me, we are both in the right, fighting for what we know is right. But now is your….final chance to survive. My offer…..still…..stands….." The knight's body slowly went limp, and his eyes closed.

"Come on Diego. Let's…what are you doing?" Hubble began to say until Diego walked over and carefully tore one of the cloths from the side of the door. He carried it back and laid the entire thing over the fallen Knight, like a burial cloth.

"You know…as much as I hate to admit it, he wasn't wrong in what he said", Diego cracked a hint of a smile, "We _were_ both fighting for what we saw as truly right. But it's a shame that he had to be born a Hive."

As he said that he walked over to the Sword of Crota and picked up the darkened blade.

"Dakoor, you have my respect. You would have made the perfect Guardian."

(End of Chapter 6)

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Greetings Earthlings! Beowulf here with another chapter of CBD!

I had to give Corbit a little more page time. We already knew little about him, and still do. Just thought we could shed a little more light.

On Diego's end, he learns the hard way that war isn't always about revenge. Despite Dakoor being a Hive Knight, he proved this lesson very well despite the loss of his brothers. Perhaps the forces of Light and Dark are less different than we first thought. Or perhaps Dakoor could have been born for the Light but never reached it. Sounds a little familiar.

Anyways, if you like what you saw, BLAST THE LIKE BUTTON INTO OBLIVION AND BEYOND!

This is Beowulf and the OC Crew signing out!


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